HANNA, ROOKE WIN AT OCAA CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS

HANNA, ROOKE WIN AT OCAA CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS

TORONTO - On October 27, Centennial College welcomed and hosted 20 colleges that participated in the 2018 OCAA Cross Country Championships presented by belairdirect at the University of Toronto Scarborough Campus Athletic Fields.

Fanshawe's Janelle Hanna (Peterborough) took home the gold with a captivating performance in the women's six kilometre event, finishing the race in 23:44.5. Kaitlin Shuvera (Prince George, B.C.) of the Humber Hawks took silver with a time of 23:51.4 while Mohawk's Kaitlyn Pansegrau (Dundas) finished with the bronze with a time of 24:05.5.

For the team results, Fanshawe used the strength of five runners finishing in the Top 20 to take home the gold medal with a total of 26 points, an average time of 24:32.4, and a cumulative time of 2:04:29.6.

Humber and Laurier Brantford were tied with a total of 83 points but the Hawks lower average (26:10.4) and cumulative (2:40:46.6) scores gave them the edge for the silver medal over Laurier Brantford's average (26:23.4) and cumulative (2:52:15.8) scores.

Kyle Rooke (Burlington) of Mohawk College capped off his fantastic cross country season with a first-place finish at the men's eight kilometre event with a time of 26:44.7. Andrew Brown (Carrying Place) from St. Lawrence College finished second with a time of 26:58.5 while Jason LaPorta (Burlington) of Mohawk took home the bronze with a time of 27:25.4.

St. Clair, on the strength of four of its runners finishing in the Top 10, took home the gold medal with a total of 24 points with an average time of 27:45.5 and a cumulative time of 2:52:15.4.

Fanshawe took second place with an average time of 28:23.1 and a cumulative time of 2:54:45.4 for a score of 55 points while Sheridan narrowly edged out Mohawk for third place with 66 points, an average time of 28:36.0 and a cumulative time of 2:53:56.2.

After the race, athletes, coaches and staff alike celebrated their season banquet-style at the Ajax Convention Centre where keynote speaker, Dr. David Bailey, who was the first-ever Canadian to break the four-minute mile, enlightened attendees on his presentation about athletics and academics.

Athletes also received their championship medals, banners, certificates and prizes that were generously provided by New Balance Inc. David Korell, Footwear Product Merchandiser and Victoria Siemon, Marketing Associate (Running) of New Balance Canada were in attendance to distribute prizes to all of the athletes.

The following awards were also presented Saturday evening:

Men's First All-Ontario Team
Kyle Rooke, Mohawk
Andrew Brown, St. Lawrence
Jason LaPorta, Mohawk
Thador Tekhli, St. Clair
Rick Nepomuceno, St. Clair
Tyler Jones, St. Clair
Cole Czuchnicki, Humber

Women's First All-Ontario Team
Janelle Hanna, Fanshawe
Kaitlin Shuvera, Humber
Kaitlyn Pansegrau, Mohawk
Sammi-Jo Burch, Fanshawe
Erin Adam, St. Lawrence
Sophie Glanz, Toronto Mississauga

Kaitlyn L'Abbe, Georgian

Men's Second All-Ontario Team
Luke Groulx, Fanshawe
Andre Tomasian, St. Clair
Cole Bond, Sheridan
Bobby Buck, Loyalist
Ahad Naim, Laurier Brantford
Garrick Loewen, George Brown
Justin Verburg, Fanshawe

Women's Second All-Ontario Team
Rachyl MacPhail, Fanshawe
Sarah Law, Loyalist
Olivia Sidock, Sheridan
Vanessa Brown, Laurier Brantford
Ashley Lof, Mohawk
Amanda Hutchings, Conestoga
Hannah Carley, Fanshawe

Female Rookie of the Year: Vanessa Brown, Laurier Brantford
Male Rookie of the Year: Thador Tekhli, St. Clair
Coach of the Year: Ryan Gagnon, Mohawk
Fair Play Award: Nicole Flynn, Loyalist

Thank you to everyone who made the 2018 Cross Country Provincial Championships possible including all race marshals and volunteers, belairdirect, University of Toronto Scarborough Campus, Speed River Timing, New Balance and the Centennial College Host Organizing Committee:

Darcy Brioux - Senior Cross Country Convenor, Athletics Manager
Joan Healey - Tournament Chair, Varsity Program Coordinator
John Stevenson - Race Director, XC Head Coach
Via Dulay - Sports Information and Marketing Officer
Kaylin Fraser - Head Athletic Therapist
Chris Stewart - Banquet Coordinator, Varsity Program Assistant
Kareem Rodney - Hospitality, Campus Rec and Facilities Coordinator (Ashtonbee)
Shauna Bookal - Volunteers, Campus Rec and Facilities Coordinator (Morningside)

A list of the full results for both the women's and men's races can be found via the following link:

https://speedrivertiming.com/res/ocxc18.htm

The CCAA Cross Country Running National Championships will be hosted by Seneca College (King City Campus) in King City, Ont., from Nov. 9-10, 2018.

Source: Centennial Colts

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